Schedule impact map

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus are disclosed which include receiving an indication of a floor plan of a building project; receiving an indication of an inspection report, the inspection report associated with an inspection type; identifying a forecast date associated with each room in the floor plan, the forecast date indicating when an inspection type associated with the respective room is to be completed; for each room, determining how close each room&#39;s forecast date is to a present date, and if the room&#39;s forecast date is past the present date; generating a visual map of the floor plan; associating a color of each room in the floor plan based on the determining; and providing the visual map with the associated color of each room for display.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/802,213, filed Mar. 13, 2013, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to monitoring building construction.

During construction of large complex construction projects, integratedcomprehensive collaborative Quality Control processes are required tosupport regulatory agencies, owner construction oversight, and generalcontractor oversight and subcontractor operations. In order toefficiently manage the construction process the general contractor andowner ideally would have up-to-the-minute status of every subcontractor,construction element, room and inspection. When information such asinspection, issue data and punch list data is delayed, the scheduleimpacts and associated costs accumulate.

SUMMARY

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification may be embodied in methods that include the actionsof receiving an indication of a floor plan of a building project;receiving an indication of an inspection report, the inspection reportassociated with an inspection type; identifying a forecast dateassociated with each room in the floor plan, the forecast dateindicating when an inspection type associated with the respective roomis to be completed; for each room, determining how close each room'sforecast date is to a present date, and if the room's forecast date ispast the present date; generating a visual map of the floor plan;associating a color of each room in the floor plan based on thedetermining; and providing the visual map with the associated color ofeach room for display.

Another aspect can be embodiment in methods that include the actions ofreceiving a selection of a floor of a building project, receiving aselection of an inspection type associated with the building project,receiving a selection of a forecast report, wherein the forecast reportdisplays each room of the floor of the building project in a colorindicating how close each room's assigned forecast date is to a presentdate, displaying a floor plan associated with the floor and inspectionreport, wherein the floor plan includes rooms that are each coloredbased on how close each room's assigned forecast date is to the presentdate.

Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems,apparatus, and computer-readable medium storing software comprisinginstructions executable by one or more computers, which cause thecomputers to perform the actions of the methods.

Further embodiments, features, and advantages, as well as the structureand operation of the various embodiments are described in detail belowwith reference to accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.In the drawings, like reference numbers may indicate identical orfunctionally similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for monitoring inspection.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display view of a floor plan.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display view of a floor plan.

FIG. 4 illustrates a display of a floor plan.

FIG. 5 illustrates a display of a key of a floor plan.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example process.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example user device including a browser.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example computer device used to implement thesystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system will be described that provides indications of projectmilestones to users of the system who are using it in order to trackstatus of building construction. The system is robust enough to enablethe orchestration of complex professional organizations, streamliningtheir interactive processes in order to minimize task duration, downtime and unnecessary delays.

In one implementation, an inspection monitoring process is provided thatprovides real-time collaboration, process tracking, quality controltiming, and status reporting associated with a construction project. Theprocess can include reporting that allows a user to visually see how farout a project is from completion for each milestone.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a networked system of devices, perhapsmobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets or computers. The devicesmay be networked over network 102. Network 102 may be any network orcombination of networks that can carry data communications. Such anetwork 102 may include, but is not limited to, a local area network,metropolitan area network, and/or wide area network such as theInternet. Network 102 can support protocols and technology including,but not limited to, World Wide Web (or simply the “Web”), protocols suchas a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) protocols, and/or services.Intermediate web servers, gateways, or other servers may be providedbetween components of the system shown in FIG. 1, depending upon aparticular application or environment.

A user may operate a user interface on user device 110 to track forecastdates of milestones for a construction project. The milestone data,forecast data, and other data used to track forecast dates may bestored, accessed, distributed or modified using a system stored on andexecuted by server 120

User device 110 may be coupled to server 120 over network 102. Server120 includes inspection system 104, which may be used to provideinformation to user device 110.

Visual system 100 may be implemented on or implemented with one or morecomputing devices, such as user device 110.

Inspection system 104 allows users to be able to track the status ofdifferent phases of a construction process. System 104 allows visualfragnets to be created that shows on a visual display the differentstatus of various parts of a project. A visual fragnet is an interactivefloor plan of a level of a building. For example, visual fragnets can becreated to show the status of an inspection for a particular milestonein a project. Visual fragnets can also be created to show forecastcompletion dates associated with various milestones in a project.

Inspection system 104 first creates the maps that will be used by thesystem. These maps can be room-based maps, or they can be section based,area based, or equipment based. Inspection system 104 receivesarchitectural drawings that are 2d or 3d, and converts these drawings toa 2D room based map. For example, if the construction project is for ahospital, each level of the hospital is associated with an architecturaldrawing. These maps are imported into inspection system 104 and they arethen converted into 2D room based maps. These room-based maps are usedby inspection system 104 to track various milestones associated with theproject.

Visual System 100 allows user to interact with Inspection system 104through network 102.

Each construction project can be made up of various project milestones.Project milestones are parts of a construction project that in totalmake up the complete construction phase of the project. For example,milestones can be Steel Erection, Fireproofing, Exterior Skin, In WallCompletion. The term “Milestone” is relative to the group that is usingit. For example, the framing subcontractor may consider “In WallFraming” a milestone because it's their scope. On the other hand, theGeneral contractor may view “In Wall Framing” as an Activity. For thepurposes of the proximity report showing how far out the forecast dateis, a “Milestone” is a large phase of work comprised of smalleractivities. “Milestones” can be Steel Erection, Fireproofing, In WallCompletion, Overhead Completion, etc. Each milestone has differentactivities associated with it. The activities are the differentinspection request that make up a milestone like In Wall Framing, InWall Plumbing, etc. Visual Fragnet reports can be run based onindividual “Activities”.

Milestones are set using standards by a general contractor or owner of aproject. Milestone provides a sequence of inspection types that areorganized and ordered to let the general contractor or owner knoweverything is done in a specific room or area prior to close-up. Forexample, the in wall milestone can include the following inspectiontypes: framing inspection, electrical, and mechanical inspection.

In one embodiment, when a report such as a proximity report is run, itwill show how far out each room is for that inspection type and the samecan be done for a milestone that includes more than one inspection type.Therefore when a report is run for a milestone that includes multipleinspections. For example the in-wall milestone may includes 3 or 4different inspection types. The rooms can be colored based on an averagedate of how far out all the inspection types are together. In anotherembodiment, each room can have multiple indications of differentinspection types so each inspection type is colored in the room. Forexample, one room can include 3 colors, 1 color for each inspection.

Once a project is underway, various subcontractors will work on variousrooms to complete different tasks associated with a milestone. As eachtask or activity is completed, system 110 receives the updated statusfor each task. When every task associated with a milestone is completed,the room is marked for inspection in system 110. An inspector then willinspect the room for a specific inspection type. The inspection type istied to the milestone. For example, if the milestone is electrical, anelectrical inspection of the room is performed.

A status of “new” is automatically assigned when a subcontractor createsan inspection request. Status “open” is selected by the GeneralContractor when they believe the request is ready to go to theinspectors. A status of “closed” is assigned for completed rooms, or“issue” is assigned for rooms that have issues, or “rejected” is astatus for those rooms not even close to being done. An inspection typeof “not applicable” may be applied to some rooms. For example, somerooms wont have plumbing so those rooms for the inspection type plumbingare marked as not applicable.

System 104 stores these statuses associated with each milestone. Oneroom can be associated with many milestones.

Inspection system 104 allows the users to assign a Forecast Completedate to a specific set of rooms for a project. Subsequently, dependingon the map or visual fragnet report that is being used, the forecastedroom will automatically update to a different color based on how far theforecasted date is from the current date. This allows the projectmanagers or general contractors or other users to easily identify theareas in the building that require the most attention in order to meetthe forecasted goal.

In one embodiment the colorization of the rooms is standardized based onthe report that is being run. However, reports that are based oncolorizing the rooms by forecasted dates are colorized randomly. This isbecause it may not be clear how many different forecast are going to beused and are unable to decide which colors to use. It could happen thatone floor plan will have 20 forecast dates for a single inspection type.Thus, the system assigns a random color to each date in that report.

A building has different areas and each area can be made up of one ormore rooms. A user, for example a general contractor, pulls up map ofthe construction project on visual system 100, selects an inspectiontype like framing, and then highlights all areas in a certain area andadds a forecast date to those rooms specific to inspection type. Theuser does this for all the different inspection types. Inspection system104 receives an indication of each of these selections and stores them.

System 104 stores the completion date associated with each room in themap. Therefore each room is associated with a completion date for eachmilestone. For example, room A in a hospital floor plan may beassociated with a completion date of Jun. 1, 2013 for its electricalinspection, and Jul. 1, 2013 for its mechanical inspection. Themilestone is a combination of inspection types. In this scenario, wehave a different date for electrical and a different date formechanical. What this means is that in the milestone for the row withroom X, it will display one date for the electrical column and adifferent date for the mechanical column.

A user can run a report such as a forecast and proximity report usingsystem 104. This map or visual fragnet provides the user with a specialcolorization sequence based on how close the forecast date is to thecurrent date. This allows the user to quickly identify all the roomsthat are near their forecasted date so that they can mobilize additionalresources in order to meet their deadline. Additionally, once the roomhas been inspected and approved, it will show up in the “Closed” statusto show that it is completed.

The user, using visual system 100, can first select a floor of abuilding, then select an inspection type. For example, electricalinspection or plumbing inspection. A map is loaded by system 104 for thespecific inspection type and the floor selected.

Once the visual fragnet has finished loading, the user can utilize avisual fragnet key that is displayed relative to the map to obtain theassociated data and identify the number of rooms that are close to orpast their forecast date. Furthermore, the ranges can be customized tomeet the project needs and updated over time if desired.

This colorized map or visual fragnet provides the user with a specialcolorization sequence showing the user exactly what rooms are assignedto which “Forecast Date” and which rooms have yet to be assigned.

This colorized map or visual fragnet provides the user with a specialcolorization sequence based on the real time status of the rooms as wellas a forecast date for the rooms that are not yet completed. The usercan utilize this map to view a comprehensive visual representation ofthe current and expected future status of the work.

Implementations of visual system 100 may be provided through a mobileapplication stored in computer-readable media of user device 110 andexecuted by one or more processors on the device. The application candisplay a user interface that is operated by the user. In someimplementations, inspection system 104 may provide the functionality offuture location system 100. On other implementations, the functionalityof systems 100 and 104 may be provided through a browser.

FIG. 2 is an example floor based map. The user first selects aninspection type and a level or map. The map in FIG. 2 may be a map of ahospital floor. As shown, none of the rooms are shaded they are all onecolor. The blank drawing means that there are currently no rooms with anassigned forecast date for that specific inspection. In order to assigna forecast date, the user will need to select the rooms, for example,rooms 202, you wish to update and then click on the “Forecast Date”button located in the upper left corner of the map. This will assign aforecast date to those rooms for the specific inspection selected. Oncethe user clicks on the “Forecast Date” button, a “Forecast Completion”screen appears. This screen provides the user with a list of all therooms he/she has selected and will also show the user if those roomshave a “Custom Area” or a “Forecast Date” assigned to them.

Having assigned a date to your selected rooms, the visual fragnet orcolorized map will automatically reload in order to show the change. Asshown in FIG. 3, the selected rooms 302 are now a different color whichwill signify something different depending on what report is being run.A user would have to look at the Key. Some colors are standardized andsome colors are assigned randomly. Thus, one report may show the roomsin red, while another report may show them in purple. In this example,the rooms are colorized based on a proximity report which shows how farout each of the rooms are from a forecast date associated with aninspection type.

FIG. 4 is a colorized map or visual fragnet showing forecast andproximity based on a report that was run. This colorized map or visualfragnet provides the user with a special colorization sequence based onhow close the forecast date is to the current date. This allows the userto quickly identify all the rooms that are near their forecasted date sothat they can mobilize additional resources in order to meet theirdeadline. Additionally, once the room has been inspected and approved,it will show up in the “Closed” status to show that it is completed.

Once the visual fragnet has finished loading, the user can utilize thekey to obtain the associated data and identify the number of rooms thatare close to or past their forecast date. It can be visually seen thatthe rooms do not all have the same color or shading, because each set isa different number of days away form their forecast date. For examplethe rooms 402 are a different shade or different color from rooms 404.This means each set of rooms is associated with a different forecastdate for the inspection type selected, and therefore the color on thefloor plan will be different since the color correlates to the number ofdays out each room or set of rooms are from the forecast date associatedwith the rooms for that inspection type.

The key is shown in FIG. 5. Furthermore, the ranges can be customized tomeet the project needs and updated over time if desired. The ranges inthe FIG. 5 report can be changed depending on what the project wants.Some projects want to have ranges that are 10 days long and some wantsome that are 5 days long. (FIG. 5 shows 15-day ranges. These ranges canbe customized by the user. A general description 502 is given for eachcolor. For example, one color is selected for rooms that are less than30 days past their forecast date, another one is chosen for rooms 30days plus until their forecast date. Rooms or areas can be associatedwith forecast dates that are in the past. Therefore, if a forecast dateis before the current date the number of days out is a negative number,because the current date is past its inspection date. These rooms areassociated with forecast dates in the past.

In one embodiment, a count 405 is also shown for the number of roomsthat are associated with the number of days out.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example process 600. The processmay be implemented by inspection system 104 or visual system 100.

At stage 610, an indication of a floor plan of a building project isreceived. For example, inspection system 104 receives an indication of afloor plan of a building project is received. A building can includemany different levels and a floor plan can be associated with eachlevel.

At stage 620, an indication of an inspection report is received. Theinspection report can be associated with an inspection type. Forexample, inspection system 104 receives an indication of an inspectionreport. An inspection type can be associated with a construction phaseof the project. Examples of inspection types can include electrical,mechanical, plumbing, drywall etc.

At stage 630, a forecast date associated with each room in the floorplan is identified. The forecast date can indicate when an inspectiontype associated with the respective room is to be completed. Forexample, inspection system 104 identifies a forecast date associatedwith each room in the floor plan. The forecast date is set by the user.The user decides when they need the inspection type for the roomcompleted. The user, can for example, be a general contractor of aproject. The forecast date can be a date in the future. In oneembodiment, the forecast date can be a number of days out from thecurrent date. For example, the user can set the forecast date of theelectrical inspection as 30 days out from the current date instead ofselecting an actual date. Inspection system 104 can calculate the datethat 30 days would fall on.

At stage 640, for each room, a determination is made of how close eachroom's forecast date is to a present date, and if the room's forecastdate is past the present date. For example, inspection system 104determines how close each room's forecast date is to a present date, andif the room's forecast date is past the present date. Inspection system104 can compare the current date to the forecast date of the inspectiontype. The number of days in between the two dates can be calculated andinspection system 104 can determine how many days out each forecast dateis for a specific inspection type. For example, if the current date isMar. 12, 2013, and the electrical inspection has a forecast date of Jul.12, 2013, inspection system 104 can calculate that the electricalinspection is 120 days out.

At stage 650, a visual map of the floor plan is generated. For example,inspection system 104 generates the visual map of the floor plan. Thevisual map displays the rooms of the floor plan. Initially each room andeach area in the floor plan can be a single color, for example, white.Each room is part of an area that is associated with a forecast date foreach inspection type. An area can include one or more rooms. In oneembodiment, each room is associated with a forecast date for eachinspection type.

At stage 660, a color is associated with each room in the floor planbased on the determining. For example, inspection system 104 associateda color with each room in the floor plan based on the determining.Inspection 104 can associate a color for various ranges of dates. Forexample if a room is less than 5 days out from the forecast date, thecolor can be red, if a room is 30 days out from a forecast date the roomcan be green, if a room is 90 days out the room can be blue etc.

In one embodiment, inspection system 104 can use the same color but asthe number of days get less, the color can become a darker version ofone color. In the same example as above, if a room is less than 5 daysout from the forecast date, the color can be dark red, if a room is 30days out from a forecast date the room can be a regular red colorlighter than the dark red, if a room is 90 days out the room can bepink, so a lighter version of the range above this one.

At stage 670, the visual map with the associated color of each room isprovided for display. For example, inspection system 104 provides fordisplay the visual map with the associated colors. The map can includethe range or ranges and the color associated with each. For example, themap (or key) can include: less than 5 days and show a dark red colornext to it, or show a regular red and show 30 days out, and show a pinkand show more than 90 days out.

In one embodiment, the user can change the forecast dates of eachinspection type. As the user changes the dates, the colors on the mapwill dynamically change. The forecast dates can be changed to be closerto the present date or farther from the present date. When a report isrun for a specific inspection type, and the dates are changed, the usercan see the new colors on the map based on how far out each room or areais now with the new forecast dates.

In one embodiment, a method can include receiving a selection of a floorof a building project. The selection can be received from a user device.A user may be using the user device and select a floor of a buildingproject from a given number of floors. Each floor has a floor planassociated with it.

The method can also include receiving a selection of an inspection typeassociated with the building project. The user can be presented with anumber of different inspection types to choose. In one embodiment, theuser can type in a specific inspection type. Inspection system 104receives the selection of the floor and the inspection type.

The method can further include receiving a selection of a forecastreport, wherein the forecast report displays each room of the floor ofthe building project in a color indicating how close each room'sassigned forecast date is to a present date.

The method can further include displaying a floor plan associated withthe floor and inspection report, wherein the floor plan includes roomsthat are each colored based on how close each room's assigned forecastdate is to the present date. Inspection system can determine if eachroom in the floor plan is associated with a forecast date for theselected inspection type. Then inspection system 104 can calculate howfar out each forecast date is from the current date. Inspection system104 can generate a floor plan of colored rooms based on how far out eachroom is. Each room can be associated with the inspection type selectedand also be associated with its own forecast date as selected by a user,for example, the general contractor. The floor plan is displayed on adisplay device showing each room colored according to a map or a keydisplayed with the floor plan.

In an embodiment, the functionality of 100 and/or system 104 may beprovided through a browser on computing devices, such as user device110. Inspection system 104 on server 120 may host the service and serveit to device 110 and any other computing devices. Any combination ofimplementations may provide, through a browser, the functionalityrepresented by the example implementations of systems 100 and 104 shownin FIG. 1 and in the display views and flowchart of FIGS. 2-6. Anystages shown in flowchart 600 that involve displaying content may beconsidered to provide the content for display in a browser.

For example, FIG. 7 shows user device 110 executing browser 702. Browser702 may be any commonly used browser, including any multi-threaded ormulti-process browser. In an embodiment, the functionality of visualsystem 100 can be provided through browser 702. Future dates arereceived or displayed in browser 702.

The functionality of any of the components or flowcharts shown in FIGS.1-6 may be provided through a browser executed on device 110, server 120or any other computing device. The web pages or application providedthrough the browser may be served from server 120, device 110, or anyother computing device. Different windows or views may be shown throughbrowser 702. Different permissions or filters may be established basedon the identity or roles of the individual logging into a website view.

System 100 and 104 may be software, firmware, or hardware or anycombination thereof in a computing device. A computing device can be anytype of computing device having one or more processors. For example, acomputing device can be a computer, server, workstation, mobile device(e.g., a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, navigation device,tablet, laptop, or any other user carried device), game console, set-topbox, kiosk, embedded system or other device having at least oneprocessor and memory. A computing device may include a communicationport or I/O device for communicating over wired or wirelesscommunication link(s).

Computing devices such as a monitor, all-in-one computer, smart phone,tablet computer, remote control, etc., may include a touch screendisplay that accepts user input via touching operations performed by auser's fingers or other instrument. For example purposes, a touch sensorgrid may overlay the display area. The touch sensor grid contains manytouch sensitive areas or cells that may be used to locate the areaclosest to the input of a user's touch.

Example touch operations using a touch screen display may include (butare not limited to) pinching, finger (or other stylus or object)touches, finger releases, and finger slides. Finger slides may becircular or any other shape, direction or pattern. The touch screendisplay may include a screen or monitor that may render text and/orimages.

FIG. 8 is an example computer system 800 in which embodiments of thepresent invention, or portions thereof, may be implemented ascomputer-readable code. For example, the components of systems 100 and104 may be implemented in one or more computer systems 800 usinghardware, software implemented with hardware, firmware, tangiblecomputer-readable media having instructions stored thereon, or acombination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computersystems or other processing systems. Components in FIGS. 1-7 may beembodied in any combination of hardware and software.

Computing devices, such as devices 110 or server 120, may include one ormore processors 802, one or more non-volatile storage mediums 804, oneor more memory devices 806, a communication infrastructure 808, adisplay screen 810 and a communication interface 812.

Processors 802 may include any conventional or special purposeprocessor, including, but not limited to, digital signal processor(DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), and multi-core processors.

GPU 814 is a specialized processor that executes instructions andprograms, selected for complex graphics and mathematical operations, inparallel.

Non-volatile storage 804 may include one or more of a hard disk drive,flash memory, and like devices that may store computer programinstructions and data on computer-readable media. One or more ofnon-volatile storage device 904 may be a removable storage device.

Memory devices 806 may include one or more volatile memory devices suchas but not limited to, random access memory. Communicationinfrastructure 808 may include one or more device interconnection busessuch as Ethernet, Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), and the like.

Typically, computer instructions are executed using one or moreprocessors 802 and can be stored in non-volatile storage medium 804 ormemory devices 806.

Display screen 810 allows results of the computer operations to bedisplayed to a user or an application developer.

Communication interface 812 allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system 800 and external devices. Communicationinterface 812 may include a modem, a network interface (such as anEthernet card), a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, or thelike. Software and data transferred via communication interface 812 maybe in the form of signals, which may be electronic, electromagnetic,optical, or other signals capable of being received by communicationinterface 812. These signals may be provided to communication interface812 via a communications path. The communications path carries signalsand may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line,a cellular phone link, an RF link or other communications channels.

Embodiments also may be directed to computer program products comprisingsoftware stored on any computer-useable medium. Such software, whenexecuted in one or more data processing device, causes a data processingdevice(s) to operate as described herein.

Embodiments of the invention employ any computer-useable or readablemedium. Examples of computer-useable mediums include, but are notlimited to, primary storage devices (e.g., any type of random accessmemory), secondary storage devices (e.g., hard drives, floppy disks, CDROMS, ZIP disks, tapes, magnetic storage devices, and optical storagedevices, MEMS, nanotechnological storage device, etc.).

Embodiments of the invention and all of the functional operationsdescribed in this specification may be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments ofthe invention may be implemented as one or more computer programproducts, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructionsencoded on a computer readable medium for execution by, or to controlthe operation of, data processing apparatus. The computer readablemedium may be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readablestorage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter effecting amachine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more ofthem. The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.The apparatus may include, in addition to hardware, code that creates anexecution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., codethat constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g.,a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal thatis generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiverapparatus.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) may be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it may bedeployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module,component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computingenvironment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to afile in a file system. A program may be stored in a portion of a filethat holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in amarkup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program inquestion, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store oneor more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer programmay be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computersthat are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification may beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows may also be performedby, and apparatus may also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit).

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applyingknowledge within the skill of the art, readily modify and/or adapt forvarious applications such specific embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the general concept of thepresent invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications areintended to be within the meaning and range of equivalents of thedisclosed embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presentedherein.

The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments or any actual softwarecode with the specialized control of hardware to implement suchembodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by a processor, information defining a floor plan of abuilding project, the floor plan comprising a plurality of rooms;identifying, by the processor, for each of the plurality of rooms in thefloor plan, a respective specified date indicating when an activityassociated with the respective room is to be completed; for each room inthe plurality of rooms, determining, by the processor, a time periodbetween the associated specified date and a present date; generating, bythe processor, a visual map of the floor plan; for each room in theplurality of rooms, determining, by the processor, a colorcharacteristic of the respective room based on the associated timeperiod; and causing a display device to display the visual map, whereineach respective room in the plurality of rooms is displayed in thevisual map based on the associated color characteristic.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the activity includes aninspection.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein theinspection includes one of an electrical-type inspection, amechanical-type inspection, a plumbing-type inspection, and adrywall-type inspection.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2,further comprising: receiving from a user a selection of an inspectiontype from among a plurality of inspection types; and identifying, by theprocessor, for each of the plurality of rooms in the floor plan, arespective specified date indicating when an inspection of the selectedinspection type is to be completed for the respective room.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the color characteristiccomprises one of a color and a selected shade of a selected color. 6.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining a colorcharacteristic of a respective room based on the associated time periodfurther comprises: associating a first color with the respective room ifthe associated specified date is after the present date; and associatinga second color with the respective room if the associated specified dateis in the past.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereindetermining a color characteristic of a respective room based on theassociated time period further comprises: associating a first shade of aselected color with the respective room if the associated specified dateis after the present date; and associating a second shade of theselected color with the respective room if the associated specified dateis in the past.
 8. A method comprising: obtaining, by a processor,information representing a plurality of rooms in a structure;determining, by the processor, for each of the plurality of rooms: afirst date indicating when a respective event associated with therespective room is scheduled to occur; a status of the first daterelative to a second date; and a visual characteristic for therespective room, based on the status; and causing a display device todisplay a map that includes the plurality of rooms, wherein each of theplurality of rooms is displayed based on the associated visualcharacteristic.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the respective eventincludes an inspection.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theinspection includes one of an electrical-type inspection, amechanical-type inspection, a plumbing-type inspection, and adrywall-type inspection.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:receiving from a user a selection of an inspection type from among aplurality of inspection types; and identifying, by the processor, foreach of the plurality of rooms in the floor plan, a respective specifieddate indicating when an inspection of the selected inspection type is tobe completed for the respective room.
 12. The method of claim 8, whereinthe visual characteristic comprises one of a color and a selected shadeof a selected color.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the second dateis the present date.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining avisual characteristic for a respective room further comprises:associating a first color with the respective room if the first date isafter the second date; and associating a second color with therespective room if the first date is in the past.
 15. The method ofclaim 13, wherein determining a visual characteristic of a respectiveroom based on the associated time period further comprises: associatinga first shade of a selected color with the respective room if the firstdate is after the second date; and associating a second shade of theselected color with the respective room if the first date is in thepast.
 16. A device comprising: a display device adapted to display dataand images; a memory adapted to store information defining a floor planof a building project, the floor plan comprising a plurality of rooms;and at least one processor adapted to: identify, for each of theplurality of rooms in the floor plan, a respective specified dateindicating when an activity associated with the respective room is to becompleted; determine, for each room in the plurality of rooms, a timeperiod between the associated specified date and a present date;generate a visual map of the floor plan; determine, for each room in theplurality of rooms, a color characteristic of the respective room basedon the associated time period; and cause the display device to displaythe visual map, wherein each respective room in the plurality of roomsis displayed in the visual map based on the associated colorcharacteristic.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein the activityincludes an inspection.
 18. The device of claim 17, wherein theinspection includes one of an electrical-type inspection, amechanical-type inspection, a plumbing-type inspection, and adrywall-type inspection.
 19. The device of claim 17, wherein the atleast one processor is further adapted to: receive from a user aselection of an inspection type from among a plurality of inspectiontypes; and identify, for each of the plurality of rooms in the floorplan, a respective specified date indicating when an inspection of theselected inspection type is to be completed for the respective room. 20.The device of claim 16, wherein the color characteristic comprises oneof a color and a selected shade of a selected color.